The Mating Game
by dealan
Summary: Ever wonder why the nurses are so organized and up to date on the gossip about Bailey’s interns? Three words: M.A.G.I.C. Bingo Fever.
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Mating Game (1/4)

Spoilers: Through Scars and Souvenirs evenutally. For this chapter, just up to 2x19.

Rating: PG for language and adult themes

Summary: Ever wonder why the nurses are so organized and up-to-date on the gossip about Bailey's interns? Three words: M.A.G.I.C Bingo Fever.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

Author's note: Unbeta'd and my first dip into writing for GA fandom, so apologies in advance. The concept for this fic was born from **fox1013**'s comment, "I like to believe that every locker has a bingo chart, and everyone's just aiming for five in a row," referring to the ridiculously high sex drives and number of conquests on this show. She always makes GA fandom fun, and she asked someone to design a game for fandom, so this is for her.

* * *

They all had a lot to thank Bailey's interns for, but Olivia felt she owed George and Izzie the most. 

When Izzie went nuts after she found Olivia hooking up with Alex (which, she still maintains, was a complete overreaction. It wasn't like she knew they were exclusive or anything), it had been the last straw. Between that and the fiasco that was her hookup with George, Olivia made the decision right then and there that she would stay away from the love lives of Bailey's interns at all costs. Sure, she was still hung up on George a little and yeah, the sex with Alex was incredibly hot, but George could be such a petulant child, and Izzie…well, Izzie just scared her sometimes.

And really, it was for the best. If she had stuck around and been sucked into their drama, it would have been much harder to show up to work every day. The nurses' station was Seattle Grace's hub of all things gossip, and every day, at least two of Bailey's interns came up in conversation. It was a commonly known fact that there was regular Seattle Grace gossip, and then there was Bailey Intern Gossip (rightfully shortened to BIG gossip, since if it involved Bailey's Interns, it usually was). Nobody provided drama like they did, and on the fateful day that M.A.G.I.C. Bingo was first conceived, the BIG gossip was as juicy as always.

"I take it you heard about O'Malley and Grey having sex?" Nurse Tyler said coolly, as he approached the desk.

Nurse Debbie rolled her eyes. "Please, who didn't after O'Malley practically screamed it in the stairwell?"

"I am so glad I dodged that bullet," Olivia muttered without looking up from the chart she was reading.

"Yeah, you just fell out of your chair when we heard him," Debbie retorted. Tyler snickered as Olivia chose to ignore them both.

"So, what do you think about all this?"

"I thought she was still hung up with McDreamy."

"Well, I saw her at the bar with Dr. Sloan last night." one nurse chimed in, rounding the corner. "I thought for sure she'd get drunk and do him instead."

"Who wouldn't?" another joined in, scooting closer. "The man is sex on a stick. I totally get why Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd was tempted to cheat on McDreamy now. If _that_ is who she's having an affair with? I am so jealous that she got to sleep with both men."

"I'm jealous of her hair."

"I want her wardrobe. Did you see the shirt she was wearing last week?"

"I know! Woman has fine taste. She's practically perfect."

"That's probably why McSteamy didn't go home with Grey from the bar. He's so in love with Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd that Grey ended up just going home and had drunk sex with O'Malley instead."

"So why do you think O'Malley was shouting at Grey today? Hasn't he been in love with her for months? "

"Well, she's been avoiding him all day."

"Do you think she regrets it?"

"Maybe the sex was bad."

Unnerved by the sudden silence that had fallen around her, Olivia looked up and found four faces staring at her with questioning eyes. "I am not answering any questions," she stammered.

Tyler flopped into a chair. "Man, I do not want to be them when Bailey finds about all this. She's supposed to be on maternity leave, but she's still floating around here and you know she'll find out soon."

"Speaking of Bailey, does anyone know what's going on with her and the Shepherds?"

"No, what's up?"

"I don't know, but Dr. Shepherd can't find his wife, and Bailey seems to know but won't tell him. Something about 'baby trumps husband'?"

"Callie Torres was totally flirting with George O'Malley," a voice announced, interrupting their conversation.

Every head whipped around to see Nurse Liz, the resident lip-reader, grinning with her news.

Debbie's eyes raised an eyebrow in response. "Well. That totally puts a spin on the conversation I had with her about O'Malley on the day of the elevator surgery," she said flatly.

As everyone huddled closer to hear Debbie's story of how Dr. Torres had cornered her in the tunnels to grill her about George, Tyler turned to Olivia. "What's your take on the whole Grey-O'Malley thing?"

"I think it's all a little sad, really. I mean, getting drunk and hooking up is one thing, but when you knowingly do it with someone who likes you the way George does with Meredith…He doesn't deserve this," she finished sadly.

"But aren't you glad you're not involved with all that crap anymore?" he nudged her, trying to make her smile.

"Yeah," she admitted ruefully. "They're actually kind of nice people and all- well, except for Cristina, of course- but they have major problems keeping their pants on. It keeps getting them in trouble."

"Has the syph outbreak taught them nothing?" he asked with mock exasperation.

Olivia glared at Tyler.

"Oops. Sorry. But I know what you mean. I feel like I need a scorecard to keep track. At this point it's practically incestuous. You could probably connect all of them by six degrees of sex."

"Like Connect Four?"

Tyler chuckled. "Or Bingo."

"You could call it Intern Sex Bingo," she said wryly.

"Or, oooh, MAGIC Bingo."

"MAGIC?"

"Yeah. Cuz if you take the first initials of Bailey's interns, you can spell out MAGIC," he joked.

Tyler and Olivia shared a small laugh at first, and then grew thoughtful.

And thus, a movement was born.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Spoilers: Through Scars and Souvenirs eventually, but for this chapter up to 2x20 (Band-aid Covers the Bullet Hole)

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

Author's note: Just so we're clear, in this fic, the official ABC "Nurse Debbie's blog" doesn't exist. In Part 1, I referenced some things mentioned on the blog because I'm trying to make this really jive with the canon, but the blog itself does not exist for this fic, mmkay?

* * *

Like all movements, all they needed to bring a good idea to fruition was a group of highly motivated, like-minded people. When Tyler and Olivia floated the idea of Sex Bingo to Debbie, she immediately latched on to the idea and announced to the other nurses that in lieu of another office pool for whether George's stay at Burke and Cristina's place would lead to Cristina and Burke breaking up, she would be cooking up something new and exciting for them instead. 

Of course Debbie had to be all mysterious and secretive about it because she wanted to make it a surprise, so it was only a matter of time before Liz figured out what they were up to with those damn lip reading skills of hers and told Nurse Kate. But, Kate and Liz _were_ the best sources of gossip outside of Debbie anyway, so they invited them in the planning. To avoid attracting more eavesdroppers, they agreed to hold their first meeting over lunch outside the hospital. Thus the official MAGIC Bingo committee was formed. Their numbers were small, but as Margaret Mead once said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." And so it was from their very first meeting.

"So how exactly is this going to work?" Debbie asked, before biting into her sandwich.

"Same rules as regular bingo apply. Each square has a randomly generated pairing. First person to make a straight line out of successful couplings, past or present, wins," Tyler said.

Liz slapped his hand away from her chips. "That might be too easy though. We're going to burn through a couple games, and it'll get boring after a while."

"That or we'll fill up the cards too quickly with valid pairings. Grey alone has slept with half of Seattle," Kate snarked.

"Hey!" Olivia scolded.

"What? It's true. You said so yourself."

"You say it like having a lot of sex is a bad thing. I don't like that George got hurt, but Dr. Shepherd really did a number on Meredith. If being slutty is how she deals, that's her own business."

"You realize we are making a game out of other people's sex lives," Tyler pointed out.

"Yes, but we're not judging them. We're just…talking about them like we would be doing anyway and keeping track of the musical beds in a really fun way," she said firmly.

"We do work with these people," Liz agreed. "Even though we're having a little fun, there's a line that we shouldn't cross."

"Fine. So where is that line?"

"Don't say anything you wouldn't want someone else to say about you?" Tyler suggested.

Debbie snorted. "Well, look whose mother taught him so well."

"Everything I know I learned in kindergarten," he winked.

"So we're agreed," Olivia continued, "ground rule number one: no judging or mocking the members on the card."

"Actually the first rule should be that no one talks about MAGIC Bingo at the hospital. If the Nazi finds out about this, we're toast."

"Right. We catch anyone talking about it, they lose their bingo privileges forever, no money back."

"How much should each card be?"

"How many cards can we make?"

Tyler tapped his chin. "Depends on how many people we can come up with for the list."

"Who do we have?"

"Well, you have to have Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie, and Cristina on the list since they're the MAGIC of MAGIC Bingo," Olivia listed. "We add in everyone that they've slept with-"

"-that we've seen in the hospital. They have to have been to the hospital, otherwise there's no point." Debbie interjected.

"Fair enough. So Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Burke-"

"Don't forget you, Olivia," Kate added.

"What? No! I don't want to be on the grid."

"It is only fair," Tyler agreed. "Everyone knows you've slept with Karev and O'Malley after that fight in the locker room."

"If I'm paired with somebody on a space on the grid, people might say that I could work a card to my advantage. Not that I would, but they might say it's unfair and then I don't get to play," she countered.

Liz shrugged. "Then we'll make it so the only time you will show up on the grid is with George or with Alex."

"Besides, it's all for fun, remember?" Debbie taunted.

"I hate you all."

"Think of it as closure," Tyler suggested.

"I'm already over it," she shot back.

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with it. It's water under the bridge."

Olivia grumbled. "Fine."

"Who else?"

The group grew thoughtful as they considered who else was eligible. With the rules they had just imposed, it was a lot harder to come up with possible candidates than they had originally thought.

"There was that one patient whose penis Meredith broke," Olivia finally blurted out.

"Okay, but we should apply the your rules to him and only pair him with Grey on the grid."

"We should add people whom we think they might hook up with, too."

"Like Dr. Torres."

"Oh yeah, she and O'Malley are definitely headed in that direction. Apparently he hasn't called her back yet, but they're flirting like it's their job. You should have seen them the other day."

"Have you seen his new haircut?"

"Oh my god, yes. It's absolutely tragic. It looks like someone took a weedwhacker to his head. I mean, yeah, he totally needed to ditch the shaggy hair look because that wasn't working for him either, but please, spend the ten dollars and go to Supercuts.

"You know, he only grew out his hair so he could look like McDreamy. I guess when Meredith dumped him, he decided the look had to go."

"Please, like he could go anywhere near the Curls of Wonder. Which, have you McDreamy's hair lately? I think he got it cut recently because it doesn't look as shapeless and floppy as it has been of late."

"Yeah, it looks much better and sharper and in place. And I think he might have added highlights."

"Ladies!…And Tyler!" Debbie interrupted. "Focus. Or we'll be here all day."

"You should add Denny Duquette to the list," Kate said after a pause. "I saw Stevens flirting with him again two days ago."

"A patient? No way. Even Stevens wouldn't cross that line."

"Well, even if it probably won't happen, there's potential and we need more names."

"I thought you said she and Karev were together."

"As far as I know, the sex in the supply closet is still going on, but I could see Denny giving Karev a run for his money. Denny flirts pretty shamelessly with her and he definitely has a huge crush on her."

"He is pretty charming, and there's that cute semi-Southern drawl he has. I wouldn't put it past Stevens to fall for him.

"Izzie does get awfully attached to her patients," Olivia admitted. "Do you remember what happened with Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd and the quints?"

"Hey, speaking of which, are we adding her to the list?"

"Well she's not sleeping with one of the interns, but she is married to McDreamy and if we put her in then someone could win with a McDreamy-Addison combination."

"Ooooh, what about McSteamy?"

"Dr. Sloan?"

"He did show up at the hospital, which makes him eligible. And with the state of the Shepherd marriage and the fact that he came all the way over from New York to win back Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, there's potential that they could get back together."

"Yeah but what are the chances that he's coming back? Even if the Shepherds end up divorcing, she'll probably go back to New York, not vice versa, so we'll never know."

"Plus, that's too far removed from Bailey's interns. It's MAGIC Bingo. We have to cap it somewhere."

"How about, they have to have slept or be actively sleeping with the MAGIC five by at least two degrees to be on the list?"

"So yes to Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd and no Dr. Sloan, then. That's Meredith, Alex, George, Izzie, Cristina, Burke, the Shepherds, Olivia, Broken Penis Guy, Dr. Torres, and Denny Duquette," Tyler listed. "That brings our total to twelve people. It should be enough to make a lot of combinations as long as we mix up the configurations, I think."

"How are you combining them again?"

"I'm just going to use one of those random generators you can get online and feed the names through. Well, except in the cases of Olivia and Broken Penis Guy."

"What if they come out as same sex combinations? I don't think anyone on that list is gay."

"Well, it'd be just as random as if you got, say, an Alex / Addison square. You know they'd never together in a million years, but we need spaces that are like that to make it harder to win, right?"

"Plus, you never know with this group."

"Especially if you get alcohol in their system."

"By the way, we should institute a no interference rule."

"Definitely. It's as much for the sake of preserving our jobs as it is for the game, anyway."

"So, are we cool with all this?"

"I still think it might be too easy to win," Liz said. "Let's bump it up to two lines to win."

"And at least three pairs have to be currently sleeping together," Olivia added.

"Yeah but now it's too hard. No one's ever going to win."

"The point of this isn't to win, really. It's just to make our gossip sessions more fun."

"Besides, these are Bailey's interns, remember? Even if it takes a lot of time, someone _will_ win eventually."

"True."

"We did say we wanted the game to go for a long time."

"Okay. Let's do it."

"Excellent," Tyler said, rubbing his hands together with excitement. "Debbie, since you and Liz usually organize the office pools, you two should get the sign-up sheet started. Kate, if I find you a online random generator, can you make the cards?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Olivia, you take care of typing up the rules."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to take care of making sure that no one ever finds out about our Bingo game. If anyone on the grid or worse, if the Nazi finds out, our ass is grass."

"What do you have planned?" Kate asked.

"You'll see."

Olivia shot him a skeptical look. "Uh-huh."

"If that's everything, I officially call this meeting to a close," he declared, ignoring her, and banged his empty soda can like a gavel.

"Tyler, I think you're getting way too excited about this official committee business."

"Let him have his fun, Debbie. It's the only time he's ever been allowed to be in charge of anything," Liz teased.

"I hate you all," he muttered.

"See, he can't even be original enough to come up with his own lines!"

"You mock me now, but wait until you see my plan to keep Bailey from finding out about all this. Then you'll be thanking me for saving all our asses from the Nazi."

Debbie just smiled at him and patted him on the head like a little child.

Things progressed quickly after that first auspicious meeting, and although they didn't know it at the time, they were about to change gossip circuit at Seattle Grace forever because Tyler's plan, as it turned out, was pretty genius. To avoid cards floating around and finding their ways into the hands of people like the Nazi, he proposed that they put the entire operation online. Tyler set up a ghost account, bought the a domain name and signed up for a PayPal so the money transactions were secure, online, and most of all, away from the watchful eyes at Seattle Grace. Debbie and Liz discreetly spread the word that people who wanted to participate in "a fun bingo game" should to send an email request to webmaster (at) magicbingo (dot) com. and to wait for further instructions. There was still some debate over the ground rules, but they hammered it out pretty quickly and soon everything was set.

By the end of the week, the website was already live.

TBC

* * *

End note: For some reason, this site won't allow me to add in email addresses or symbols, so I had to type it out. Sorry. Blame fanfiction (dot) net. Anyway, magicbingo (dot) com does exist on the Internet, but it is not affiliated with this fic at all. And 'Curls of Wonder' is taken from the Turtlenecks and Hair thread over at TWOP. I am fully indebted to that thread as it has actually helped me set the tone of the nurses' gossip. 


	3. Chapter 3

Spoilers: Through Scars and Souvenirs eventually, but for this chapter, up to 17 Seconds

Rating: PG for language

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

Author's note: I'm expanding this fic to a 5 parter because I decided Joe needed to be in on this as well. And as a reminder, Magicbingo (dot) com does exist on the Internet, however it is not affiliated with this fic. It really is an online gambling website. (Again, sorry for the (dot) part. Dumb ff (dot) net.) Also don't forget that while I do reference the canon from the Nurses' blog, the actual blog does not exist in this fic. Once again, thank you for all feedback.

* * *

**Seattle Grace M.A.G.I.C. Bingo**

Welcome to the official website for Seattle Grace Hospital's MAGIC Bingo. If you are reading this, then that means that you've successfully found our secret site and your userID and password work. Congratulations. We knew you could do it. After all, you _do_ save lives on a regular basis. Here are the ground rules.

Rule 1: The first rule of MAGIC Bingo is you do not talk about MAGIC Bingo. **Violate this rule and you lose your bingo privileges forever**. MAGIC Bingo is like Fight Club. Exchange BIG gossip all you want, but do not reference the game at work. This is for your protection as much as it is for ours. The Nazi finds out about this, she'll kick our collective ass and then some.

Rule 2: No, seriously, you do not talk about MAGIC Bingo. We recommend that you don't print out your MAGIC cards at all. The message board is there for so you don't have to remember everything when you update your cards outside of work, but if you do choose update them at work, you do it at your own risk. If you get caught, we will deny everything, including even knowing you.

Rule 3: No mocking or judging of the people on the grid. This is all in good fun, so be nice. It could be you on the grid next time we play. We catch any player making inappropriate comments, and you're on probation. Do it again and you're out.

Rule 4: Each square has one pairing. The goal is to make two straight lines out of successful couplings, past or present. In order to win, at least three relationships in the lines have to be current. First person to print out and email in a valid MAGIC card to webmaster (at) MAGICbingo (dot) com wins the pot.

Rule 5: If there is any question about the validity of a pairing, you have to be ready to produce someone else to corroborate your story so everyone knows you're not making it up. (not like it's hard when people are shouting about it in the stairwells, punching each other out, and making out at Joe's.) We will be doing the judging. Our decision is final.

Rule 6: Do not share your password or ID with anyone. Your ID is how we keep track of who owns what card, how many you have ordered and more importantly, it has your credit card information for the PayPal. Sharing your ID information is like giving someone free license with your credit card.

Rule 7: Two dollars buys you one card. Just click on the link and we'll credit it to your ID account.

Rule 8: No exchanging cards. We don't want to deal with arguments over owned the winning card first. You don't like your card, buy a new one.

Rule 9: No interference allowed. If a grid member asks you for information, that's fine. You can tell them what you know, but no dropping hints or nudging them in the direction of hooking up or breaking up with someone so you can get that square on your card, no telling lies or spreading false gossip, or _absolutely_ no buying Meredith tequila shots so she'll get drunk and sleep with inappropriate men.

Rule 10: Share your information. The point of this is not the money. It's to make our weekly gossip sessions more fun. So don't keep all the news to yourself because we'll all find out eventually and you'll just end up lonely and alone, while the rest of us have fun. By sharing in the BIG gossip, we all win.

* * *

Kate whistled as she scrolled through the home page of the website. "Damn Tyler. This is a real production. When did you have time to do all this?" 

"My girlfriend set up the website," he grinned. "It's great, isn't it?"

"I'm confused. Why does it looks like it's a website for a casino?" Olivia asked.

"See, that's the beauty of it," Tyler explained excitedly. "Anyone who finds it will think it's a website for online gambling. But if you click on this dice right here," he pointed at the screen, "you get sent to a login page. You can't access the real site unless you log on with a matching ID and password that we give out."

"So, not only do you have to have a password and ID provided by us, you have to know how to navigate to the real site?" Debbie asked.

"Exactly. I've already drafted the email of instructions to send to the members along with their respective IDs and passwords. It's just another precaution in case someone slips and someone we don't want accessing the site decides to google it."

"You've even set up a message board?" Olivia said incredulously.

"Well, I figured that we can't print out our cards and we don't want people checking the website at work, but some of us have a harder time keeping track of things and remembering everything all the time. So I set up this message board. People post anonymously what they've seen and heard. If on the off chance someone does find this board, it's separate from the site and no one is implicated."

"This is going to make it a lot easier for Debbie and I to confirm and debunk rumors if we know what's out there too."

"This has got to be the most organized form of office gossip on the face of the earth."

"You had to make this an elaborate operation, didn't you? You couldn't have just made it like a regular office pool."

"It's part of the fun," Tyler argued. "The fact that it's underground and mysterious and secret is what makes MAGIC Bingo…magical."

"Whatever. You're just really scared of Bailey."

"Damn straight I am."

"Moving on. Are all the cards ready?" Debbie asked.

"Yup," Kate answered. "Since Tyler here was so busy with this, I wrangled my cousin who goes to CalTech to make me a program that randomly generates combinations and configurations with no repeats. All I have to do is send the names through and we'll have our grids. It even numbers each card so it's easier to keep track of the who gets what card."

"And the PayPal and stuff?"

"All set. We are ready to send out the mass email and start the first round," he announced. "Shall I do the honors?"

The other nurses smiled and nodded. Tyler clapped his hands together, and with a deep breath, he clicked the button.

* * *

Within twenty-four hours of the email being sent, the website had 732 hits and they had sold 56 cards. On the day that Liz had confirmed that Meredith had in fact told McDreamy that she had sex with George, the membership had expanded beyond the surgical nursing staff. Although no one would admit to knowing what MAGIC bingo was about when asked, the member list kept growing. By the time Debbie reported that she had just seen Izzie Stevens kissing Denny, they had lost track of exactly which department each member was from, but they were certain that their members weren't just nurses any more. The anesthesiologists and the MRI guys had joined in, as had some interns and residents, and even one guy from human resources. 

In short, MAGIC Bingo was a bonafide hit.

None of them expected people to buy more than two or three cards, but the numbers were through the roof. This popularity was both a blessing and a curse though, as they soon found out two weeks into the first round.

"Tyler, put the damn laptop away. We're at a bar for god's sake."

I don't care," he said defiantly. "A family- Hey Joe! Can we get another round here?- A family just lost their daughter, wife, and mother all in one day, it turns out that the patient responsible was a doctor, and we had to deal with the Triangle of Death today. Today has sucked and I need something to remind me that there are still things that are stupidly funny and silly and happy in the world."

Yeah, it's been a really rough day," Olivia agreed. "I've never had a patient who's been left open like that. It was like they just saran-wrapped her closed until they could figure out what to do with her. Have any of you guys ever seen that before?"

The women shook their heads and sat in quiet contemplation over the day's sad events while Tyler clicked at the computer.

"Hmm," Tyler frowned. "That can't be right."

"What is it, Tyler? The boards say something new about on going saga of Burke and Cristina?

"Well, yeah, apparently they're having problems because she fell asleep in the middle of having sex," he waved his hand vaguely, "but that's not what I'm looking at."

"What is it?"

"Well, I was checking the PayPal, and according to this, so far the pot is at $784."

"Holy crap. How many cards are people buying?"

"Do we even have that many cards?"

Kate shook her head. "I've been meaning to mention that. We're running out, guys. And it doesn't look like people are showing any signs of stopping. Every time there's a new development, we get a spike in card purchases. We need to figure out a way to make more cards, fast."

"What if we added the McVet Meredith and Cristina were talking about?" Liz suggested.

"Oh, I have the scoop on that, by the way," Debbie said. "Dr. Danridge is my vet too, and word in the office is, things are definitely progressing. Apparently, he's cooking dinner for her tonight.

"Well, McDreamy definitely isn't taking it well. Did you hear them going at in the stairwell? He actually called her a whore."

"Meredith and McVet haven't slept together," Joe cut in, bringing over their drinks. "So you should post that on your message board."

"How do you know about the message board?" Liz asked suspiciously.

"Guys, who do you think debunks half the rumors around here? People come in here with Bingo cards all the time asking me for information." Joe watched as the nurses exchanged nervous glances. "Relax, I'm not going to say anything. I'm a bartender. It's my job to keep secrets."

"You just volunteered that Meredith and McVet aren't sleeping together, though," Olvia pointed out.

"That's because it was a lie. I don't see any problem in stopping the spread of false rumors. Especially since she was talking really loudly about it the other day."

"Joe's bar should still be as off limits as the hospital," Tyler said. "They come here too often."

"Agreed."

"So, if they haven't slept together, we should totally add in McVet."

"Yeah but that is just one more pairing. We need more."

"Not if we don't apply the Olivia rules to him. I say we take away the Olivia rules from Denny and McVet to add in more random pairings. That'll generate more configurations."

"But if we change the rules, everyone is going to buy a new card and we'll be back to where we started."

"Maybe we should put a limit on the number of cards you can buy. Let's say, a nice round number of ten. Who has bought the most number of cards so far?"

Tyler scrolled down the list. "That would be….Dr. Savoy with….whoa, _nine_ cards."

"He must really want to win" Joe chuckled.

"Damn, it's a doctor. He's not going to take it well if we put the cap at ten and he can only buy one new card," Kate complained.

"Okay, we add in McVet, and put the cap at ten, but we tell him that he, and only he, has the option of trading in one of his old cards for a new one. That seems pretty fair."

"I can't see anyone spending more than $20 on Bailey's interns," Joe added.

"Well, at two dollars apiece, it doesn't seem much. But it does add up together in the end."

"It's a lot like crack, really," Olivia said thoughtfully.

Everyone laughed in agreement and downed their shot glasses.

In the end, Dr. Savoy made a huge stink about the new cards, but he couldn't really do anything about it since the committee was unanimous about their decision. As predicted, everyone did buy one or two new cards with McVet on them, but with Denny and McVet now in the mix, the new combinations generated enough cards for the game to continue on. Olivia had been absolutely right. M.A.G.I.C. Bingo Fever was more than just a popular movement; it was a hospital wide addiction.

And just like crack, they would use it as escape from the reality around them when the proverbial shite hit the fan, beginning with the shooting of Preston Burke.

TBC


End file.
